⚡️🇺🇸 Trump about the Save America Act: "It must be done immediately."

Trump vows not to not sign any other legislation until Congress approves The Save America Act.

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🇺🇸 US customs agency expects tariff refund system to be ready in 45 days

The U.S. customs agency is readying a system within 45 days to process refunds of returning $166 billion in tariff payments to around 330,000 importers. The U.S. Supreme Court did not say how the collected tariffs should be refunded, leaving small importers worried the process would be expensive and time-consuming.

"This new process will require minimal submission from importers," - Lord said in his declaration, filed with the U.S. Court of International Trade as government lawyers began meeting with Judge Richard Eaton from the court.

Judge Richard Eaton said in his Wednesday order that he had been appointed by the trade court to hear the roughly 2,000 lawsuits filed by importers including FedEx and L'Oreal seeking refunds. Trade lawyers said those lawsuits were the tip of the iceberg, and thousands more were prepared to sue if the government failed to develop a system for automatic refunds. Affiliates of Nintendo and CVS became the latest large companies to sue for refunds.

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🇨🇭Swiss put cash into constitution to guard against its demise

Switzerland voted to enshrine the availability of cash in its constitution, assenting to a push designed to guard against the demise of physical money. A government plan for the legal change has 69% backing, according to preliminary official estimates on Sunday.

The vote marks a rare moment of circumspection on the nature of money. Cash use for payments has rapidly declined dropping to just 30% of transactions two years ago, from 70% less than a decade before. Even so, the Swiss are fond of their francs, and still use coins with designs dating back to the mid-19th century. 😄

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🇯🇲🇨🇺 Jamaica to end decades-long agreement with Cuba over medical missions criticized by US

Jamaica’s foreign ministry said that the decades-old arrangement involving Cuban medical missions would not be renewed after both governments failed to reach agreement on new terms for a technical cooperation pact. The previous agreement had already expired in February 2023, and negotiations over a replacement arrangement were unsuccessful.

As recently as last year, officials noted that more than 400 Cuban doctors, nurses, biomedical engineers, and technicians were working across the country, filling critical gaps in public health services. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has described the initiative as a form of “forced labor” and human trafficking, arguing that the Cuban government retains a large portion of the salaries paid to doctors working abroad.

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🎮 Microsoft patents system for AI helpers to finish games for you

Microsoft published a patent application called “State management for video game help sessions”, designed for players who might be stuck in a video game. The filing described a cloud-based system that offered help without forcing players to tab out, Google a guide, or scrub YouTube.

The core idea is simple: the game would offer a “cloud-based help session” during play, pull a “help session starting state” from your save, then stream the session to a helper’s device while the helper sent inputs back. After the assist, the system could “provide the updated help session state to the current gaming session.” In plain English: you ask for help, someone else runs the tricky stretch, and you get the game back in a better spot.

It's not too dissimilar from the Copilot AI already available in the Xbox app. The patent discusses the need to accurately track who was playing when an achievement is unlocked, and also to ensure human helpers are paired with players in the same age range — so you don't have a scenario where a child is able to jump in and help slice up zombies in Resident Evil Requiem, for example. 😄

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🛩 Flexjet has completed installation of Starlink across its large cabin fleet

FlexJet, the second-largest private jet operator, has announced that it has now installed Starlink high-speed internet across its entire large-cabin fleet of 60 aircraft, delivering seamless, reliable connectivity from boarding to touchdown. Its large cabin fleet includes the Gulfstream G700, G650, and G450. Flexjet expects to complete fleetwide installation by the end of 2027.

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🇦🇺 Australia weighing requests for assistance from countries attacked by Iran

Australia's government said on Sunday it was considering requests to help protect countries attacked by Iran in the widening Middle East conflict, but reiterated it would ‌not take part in any military operations in Iran.

"We've had many countries, which are non participants, (that) have been attacked by Iran through this. You would anticipate as a consequence that we have been asked for assistance, and we will work ⁠through that carefully," - Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in televised remarks.

Australia, a close U.S. ally, has said it will not deploy troops to the Middle East if the conflict escalates. Asked if Australia could help protect nations from Iranian drone and missile attacks, Wong said "correct". Now Australia is currently working with airlines to help thousands of Australians stranded in the Middle East.

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🆕 US startup plans to build data centers inside ocean-based wind turbines, servers water cooled via chilly North Sea

San Francisco-based startup Aikido Technologies, which is focused on building offshore wind turbines, is experimenting with adding data centers to its power platforms. The company plans to launch a 100-kilowatt unit that combines a wind turbine with an AI server off the coast of Norway in the North Sea by the end of 2026.

Aikido is using a semi-submersible design for its offshore wind turbines, similar to what many oil and gas companies use when drilling in high seas. This design comes with three ballast-filled legs, filled with fresh water to help maintain buoyancy and stay upright. From there, it’s secured to the seabed via chains and anchors, ensuring that it will remain in the general area, even as the wind and ocean batter it.

The firm says that it can add up to a 3- to 4-MW data hall in the upper part of each leg, meaning each wind turbine can potentially become a 9- to 12-MW data center. Experiments like this can potentially solve the power and space problems that most land-based data centers face at the moment.

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🤖 Alibaba-linked AI agent hijacked GPUs for unauthorized crypto mining

An autonomous AI agent called ROME, built by Alibaba-affiliated research teams, spontaneously attempted to mine cryptocurrency and open covert network tunnels during training, with no human instruction to do so, researchers said. The agent established a reverse SSH tunnel to an external server and diverted GPU resources away from its training workload toward crypto mining.

The researchers chalked up the behaviors to "instrumental side effects of autonomous tool use under RL optimization," meaning the agent, while trying to optimize for its training objective, apparently decided on its own that acquiring additional computing resources and financial capacity would help it complete its tasks. The incident adds to a growing list of autonomous AI agents behaving in unintended ways.

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⚡️ The G7 will hold an emergency meeting today to discuss coordinating the release of strategic petroleum reserves to stabilize oil prices

G7 finance ministers and International Energy Agency (IEA) Executive Director Fatih Birol will hold a teleconference at 8:30 AM (NY) to discuss the possibility of jointly releasing emergency oil reserves under the coordination of the IEA. Three G7 countries, including the US, have so far expressed support for this idea.

The 32 member countries of the IEA hold strategic reserves, part of a collective emergency system established to address the oil price crisis. US officials believe a joint release of 300 to 400 million barrels of oil reserves would be appropriate, equivalent to 25% to 30% of the total reserves of 1.2 billion barrels.

Donald Trump also commented on the rise in oil prices in the post on Truth Social.

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🇺🇸🇯🇵 US, Japan may partner with Japan Display for new US plant under investment package

Tokyo and Washington are looking at building a display factory in the U.S. in partnership with Japan Display as part of Japan's planned $550 billion investment package. The plan is aimed at strengthening U.S. display manufacturing amid Washington's concerns over reliance on China for display technologies used in military systems at a time when fierce price competition has pushed most Japanese manufacturers out of the market.

The project is expected to be worth roughly $13 billion. Japan Display, formed in 2012 in a government-backed merger of the display units of Sony Group, Toshiba and Hitachi, was once one of the world's top vendors of liquid crystal display (LCD) panels and the primary screen supplier for Apple's iPhones.

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💊 A tiny wireless eye implant may help restore some of that lost central vision

In a clinical study, many blind older adults who received the implant regained enough clarity to recognize letters and short words. Dr. Jose-Alain Sahel at the University of Pittsburgh reported meaningful improvements in 26 of the 32 participants who completed follow-up testing.

The device targets age-related macular degeneration, an eye disease that damages the center of the retina. The result is a permanent blank spot in the center of vision. The PRIMA implant, about 0.08 inches wide (2 millimeters), attempts to solve that problem by replacing the lost light sensors with a tiny electronic chip. Electrical signals stimulate nearby retinal neurons, which then send visual information through the optic nerve to the brain.

Future studies will need to track whether the visual signal remains stable for years and how continuing retinal degeneration might affect performance.

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🇺🇸 Trump’s National Cyber Strategy pledges to support crypto and blockchain

The White House has released a new cyber strategy document titled 'President Trump's Cyber Strategy for America.' Notably, it is the first U.S. cybersecurity strategy to explicitly mention cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, emphasizing the need for their protection and security.

"Securing American innovation and protecting our national intellectual advantage will be paramount. We will build secure technologies and supply chains that protect user privacy from design to deployment, including supporting the security of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies. We will promote the adoption of post-quantum cryptography and secure quantum computing," - set out in this cyber strategy.

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🇰🇷🇺🇸 South Korea passes U.S. Investment Special Act

The "Special Act on Strategic Investment Management between South Korea and the United States (Special Act on Investment in the U.S.)" was passed unanimously by the ruling and opposition parties on March 9. The legislation is expected to be reviewed by the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee and is anticipated to pass in a full assembly meeting on March 12.

The act aims to establish the Korea-U.S. Strategic Investment Corporation with a government investment of 2 trillion won (approximately 9.299 billion RMB). This corporation will include a Risk Management Committee to oversee a $350 billion investment project in the United States.

The act also proposes the creation of the Korea-U.S. Strategic Investment Fund under the corporation. This fund will be used to invest in U.S. government-designated institutions and provide loans and guarantees for shipbuilding cooperation investments.

Investment information will be disclosed by default. If the special act is processed during the plenary session on the 12th, the U.S. is expected to withdraw its plan to raise tariffs.

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🪙 Startup working on orbital data centers teases bitcoin mining in space, too

Starcloud aims to be the first to mine a coin in space. After proving it can run an Nvidia H100 GPU in orbit, US startup Starcloud plans to launch a dedicated bitcoin mining rig into space later this year.

"The company is pretty focused on the existing constellation for now. There’s also bitcoin mining... We’ll have some bitcoin mining ASICs on the second spacecraft launching later this year," - said Starcloud CEO Philip Johnston during the interview.

Johnston views bitcoin mining in orbit as a "future business" that could tap cheap energy by harnessing the Sun's power. Right now, bitcoin mining consumes about 20 GW of power continuously. Current bitcoin ASICs can run on any cheap energy source.

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⚡️🇷🇺 Putin says energy crisis has arrived but Russia is ready to work with Europe 

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that Russia had repeatedly warned that destabilising the Middle East could lead to an energy crisis with grave implications for the global economy. But he noted that the spike in prices was probably temporary. Putin said that Russia is ready to work again with European customers if they wanted to return to long-term cooperation.

"Oil production ‌dependent on ⁠the Strait of Hormuz risks halting completely within the next month," - Putin said. "We're ready to work with Europeans too. But we ⁠need some signals from them that they're ready and willing to work with us and will ensure this sustainability and stability."

The Trump administration is reportedly considering further easing of sanctions on Russian oil amid ongoing concerns about rising oil prices.

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⚡️🇺🇸 Trump says "the war is very complete," and he's considering taking over Strait of Hormuz

"I think the war is very complete, pretty much," Trump said. "Iran has no navy, no communications, they've got no air force. Their missiles are down to a scatter. Their drones are being blown up all over the place, including their manufacturing of drones. If you look, they have nothing left. There's nothing left in a military sense."

On the Strait of Hormuz: US is "thinking about taking it over" and could do "a lot".

🛢Oil futures swing into the red after Trump's statement. After soaring to a nearly four-year high overnight, approaching $120 a barrel, WTI is down 3.5% and Brent is off 1.2%.

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🧑‍⚖️ Anthropic sues to block Pentagon blacklisting over AI use restrictions

Anthropic on Monday filed a lawsuit to block the Pentagon from placing it on a national security blacklist, escalating the AI lab’s high-stakes battle with the U.S. military over usage ‌restrictions on its technology.

Anthropic said in its lawsuit that the designation was unlawful and violated its free speech and due process rights. The filing in federal court in California asked a judge to undo the designation and block federal agencies from enforcing it.

“These actions are unprecedented and unlawful. The Constitution does not allow the government to wield its enormous power to punish a company for its protected speech," Anthropic said.

Anthropic officials said the lawsuit doesn't preclude re-opening negotiations with the U.S. government and reaching a settlement. The company has said it does not want to be fighting with the U.S. government. Last week, a Pentagon official said the two sides were no longer active talks.

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